


Small Galaxy

by eachuaine



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, lesbian!Nihlus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:33:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25548262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eachuaine/pseuds/eachuaine
Summary: Prompt from horsyunicorn on tumblr. "Nihlus and Shep being introduced by Anderson on the Normandy. It looks like they're being formal and polite but really they've been hooking up for months; Shep is extremely cool and gives nothing away in front of Anderson but Nihlus is screaming on the inside."
Relationships: Nihlus Kryik/Female Shepard
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	Small Galaxy

They’d first met at some bar on some moon that Nihlus couldn’t remember the name of simply by virtue of it being just like every other seedy bar she’d ever visited to unwind after a case. She remembered the colors of it, though. The sight of her, haloed in the hot pink of the lights as she came up to the bar and flagged down the bartender. Bright eyes, darkened around the lids with eyeliner; face dotted with those  _ freckle  _ things humans and some asari sported. Her lip was split, swollen and wet with blood, but she had the look of the cat who’d got the cream. The once-over she gave Nihlus with those pale eyes before nodding to her was… well, whatever it was, it had her talking where she’d normally just nod and return to her own drink.

_ “Bad night?” Nihlus asked, arching a brow. The human flicked a tongue over the split in her lip and grinned. _

_ “Good night. Got what I was after.” She lifted her chin. “You?” _

_ “The jury is still out on that one.”  _

She’d been blonde the last time Nihlus had, ahem,  _ seen  _ her, with hair brushing her chin (hair she very specifically remembered fisting a hand in so she could pull her head back to bite that pliant, vulnerable throat--), and she still was, but the brown of her roots had started to show. She remembered some human saying-- _ something something carpets don’t match the drapes.  _

__ The meaning still eluded her.

She looked different under  _ the Normandy’s  _ harsh lights; cleaner, less wild (though that might’ve just been because of the benefit of a comb. She always seemed to be in some state or another when they met)--though there was still that smug, catlike air about her that only intensified when it registered on Nihlus’s face that she recognized her (because it must have.)

“...Shepard, this is Nihlus Kryik. She’s been dispatched by the Council to--”

“Evaluate me?” Lizzie-- _ Elizabeth-- _ extended a hand. Nihlus took it and shook firmly. “Was wondering when they’d finally let a human into the Spectres.”

Her touch--even through layers of supertough alloy and sensationless rubber--was electric. Nihlus remembered the last time that shock had gone through her.

_ Lizzie propped herself up on her elbows and combed her fingers through her hair, grinning dazedly. _

_ “So,” she said. “Nih.” _

_ “Lizzie,” Nihlus returned, watching her through hooded eyes.  _

_ “I think it’s time you and I got to know each other.” _

_ “You know there’s nothing I’d like better,” Nihlus murmured, tracing her jaw with a finger. “But--” _

_ “Nothing serious,” Lizzie interrupted, tilting her head to kiss Nihlus’s palm. “Just small stuff. Like… how old were you when your folks finally convinced you to toss out your stuffed animals?” _

_ “I never had any,” Nihlus said. Lizzie pouted. _

_ “Now that’s just sad. Nobody slept with poor baby Nihlus?” _

_ “Adult Nihlus is making up for lost time.” _

_ Lizzie’s grin was smug as she leaned in, hair feathering softly against her face. Her smell was intoxicating. _

_ “That she is.” _

_ An electric shock zipped down her spine when she took one of the feelers on her mandible between her lips and sucked, like a little demon. _

“I can’t pretend to be privy to the Council’s decisions,” Nihlus said with all the calm she did not feel. “But I count myself among the many who believe that the time is far past due.”

“That’s good of you,” Elizabeth said, with polite lukewarm surprise in her voice. “Not a lot of turians feel the way you do about humans.”

_ Ah,  _ Nihlus thought.  _ So it’s going to be like that. _

__ “Not all of us resent humanity. Some of us can see the potential in your species. We’re interested in what you can bring to the table.”

“Well,” Elizabeth said, smiling. “I can only hope that what I bring to the table impresses you.”

_ Nihlus hiked Lizzie’s knees up over her hips and planted her ass on the table with a grunt. Lizzie giggled hysterically. _

_ “You’re old.” _

_ “Am not.” _

_ “Are too.” She brushed a teasing kiss across Nihlus’s mouth. There was something about this  _ kissing  _ thing Lizzie had introduced her to that kept her coming back for more--though that might just have been a Lizzie thing. “Digits.” _

_ “Thirty-five.” _

_ “Twenty-nine.” _

_ “Shit.”  _

_ Lizzie giggled again and leaned back on her palms while Nihlus struggled with the seals on her suit. _

_ “Shit,” she said again, sighing as she braced her hands on either side of Lizzie’s hips. “I’m too drunk for this.” _

_ Lizzie devolved into yet another set of giggles and flopped back on the table. _

__ “Nihlus?”

She blinked.

“Pardon?”

Anderson was giving her an odd look.

“I said we touch down on Eden Prime in twenty minutes.”

“Ah.” She cleared her throat. “Right.  _ The Normandy  _ is making excellent time.”

_ “Captain? You’ve got an incoming call from the Council.” _

__ Anderson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. A ghost of that feline grin peeked out from behind Elizabeth’s sympathetic smile.

“Shepard, make sure Nihlus has everything she needs. I’ll be back.”

He turned smartly on his heel and walked away. Elizabeth and Nihlus watched him go.

“So,” Elizabeth said, once he was out of earshot. “Small galaxy.”

_ “Very  _ small,” Nihlus groused. “Very small indeed.”


End file.
